Saturday April 8th

I huffed out a heavy breath, trying the shake the drowsiness that held my body. My alarm had gone off, I needed to get out of bed. But I was just so darn comfy! I sighed, snuggling deeper into the soft cotton, when it hit me.

I wasn't alone.

Cold hands lay over my tank-clad ribs, the hard contours of a stone body pressed against my back, sweet breath sweeping against my ear. He was here. He was back. Edward. I tried to stifle the grin that rose on my face, but I failed miserably, a soft, excited noise escaped my mouth, before I shifted and turned into him, looping my arms around his still back and burying my face into his chest.

"Good morning." He mumbled; his voice as soft a whisper as the low morning light. I hummed in response, pressing into him closer.

"Did you sleep well?"
"Best night sleep in months." I grinned, untucking my head to meet his eyes. He cringed, golden eyes swimming with pain before his features rearranged into a perfect grin. I wasn't going to let that go. He didn't need to hide his feelings from me.

"What are you thinking?"

"I thought that was my line?" He cocked his eyebrow, the corner of him mouth pulling up into a low smirk.

"What, I'm not allowed to wonder too?"
"Not when we could be dissecting your beautiful mind, sweet Bella." He was charming me, dazzling me, distracting me. His face moved down over mine, turning slightly, so as to not bash my nose, as his smooth lips met mine.

I didn't deny him. Couldn't, even.

"I know what you're doing." I mumbled against his mouth, as he softly dusted my lips with kisses, before moving towards my jaw, and slipping down my neck, making me shiver as cool breath and stone lips consumed my every thought.

"Me?" He asked, grinning against my skin, his voice perfectly innocent.

"We'll talk about this later." I murmured quickly when his tongue met my exposed collarbone, and I slipped my hands into his perfectly soft, messy hair, guiding his head back up to where I wanted it. I was being serious, despite my distraction. He was hurting, feeling guilty about the last eight months. I wouldn't let him spend forever moping. Sure, I was still mad, still immensely hurt. But overwhelming relief and happiness trumped those harsher feelings. We were together, finally, and I'd never let him leave again. Never.

I pushed my lips, pliable against his tough skin, against his perfect face, gently nipping his lower lip, and I knew that before we'd even really started, he had reached his unyielding limit. His body tensed, and I felt him place one last peck against me before I was suddenly flat on my back, Edward next to me, his fingers threaded through mine. That was a peace offering, a symbol for him still loving me, despite the need for us to slow down. I understood, I really did, but it still hurt.

I knew he wanted me like that, but he seemed to be able to resist a lot easier than me. I craved him more than air: his mind, body and soul. And despite his reassurances, it was difficult to always believe that my own personal angel could feel such insistent desire for a human. A plain, clumsy human. I grimaced, and I knew Edward didn't miss it, but he didn't pry.

He was suddenly sat up, I didn't see him move, though that was no surprise, I rarely did, and he brought our clasped hands to rest on his crossed legs, pulling me up to be seated.

"So, what's the plan for today?" He shot me my favourite crooked smile, and even I could hear my heart stutter. I'd gone too long without seeing that grin.

"Breakfast and then work." I pushed my face into a comical grimace, letting out an overdramatic sigh. I threw my head to meet his, hastily pecking his lips, before jumping off the bed, grabbing my shower stuff.

"Human moment." I grumbled, heading towards the bathroom. I jumped into the shower, discarding my clothes into the laundry basket, and rushed through the motions. I had a precious hour until my shift at Newton's, and I wasn't going to waste it under a stream of hot water. Rather a stream of cold, I snickered to myself. God, how was I going to get through the day without him?

I flipped the handle and climbed out, drying myself sloppily in my haste and slipping on some worn-out jeans and a t-shirt.

Bye the time I made it back to my room, Edward was lounging on my bed, his face breaking into a breath-taking grin when his eyes landed on me. My smile was probably even more embarrassingly prominent than his. I pushed the door shut and stepped back against it, leaning for support. If he kept smiling at me like that, like I was his reason for life, my knees were going to give out. I wiggled my finger, beckoning him towards me, in a manner that I hoped would be vaguely seductive, but knew probably looked more cringy than enticing. He leapt off the bed, and I was quickly in his arms, mine coming up to circle him. He pressed loving kisses to my mouth. Slow, steady and heartbreakingly caring. I matched his pace, and it once again hit me that he was really here, in my arms, kissing me like we hadn't been separated for all too long. If there was a heaven, surely it must be like this?

The tears came before I could stop, fat and slow, and he move his lips to gently catch them. I opened my eyes to see a look of deep understanding in his golden pools, and I hugged him tighter, my head tucked tight against his strong shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. Truly. I'm here, I'm not leaving, and I love you." He whispered into my hair over and over again, quiet reassurances as I submitted to the tears for a few moments I knew must have been much more painful for him than me.

"I know, Edward." I mumbled into his damp sweater. "Thank you."
"Please don't thank me, Bella, please." His voice was thick, and I lifted my head to make sense of his words through his gaze. His eyes were harsh and pained, a look I'd become well acquainted with since Volterra.

"How can I not thank you when you've given me the greatest gift of all? How can I not thank you for coming back, for being here?" My words were strong and insistent. He needed them. He needed to understand that the past was in the past, and that the deep wounds he had caused had been stitched back up when my eyes set upon him in Volterra.

"I've hurt you so much." He sighed; his voice dripped with a regret no ordinary seventeen-year-old could touch. No, this was the voice of the vampire who had seen more than any human could imagine.

"You were hurting too." I reasoned, and he conceded, dipping into a firm, quick kiss. I knew this conversation wasn't really over, and I'd be seeing even more of the self-loathing Edward I knew so well.

"Breakfast time for the human." He said, his expression kind but firm as he pulled me back from the door so that he could open it and push me out.
"I love you, Bella. I'm just a phone call away."
"Love you." I smiled. Charlie was downstairs, presumably eating his own breakfast, so I wouldn't get to see Edward until I left for Newton's.

I trudged down the stairs, the noisy creaking reminding me how old this house really was. As I stepped into the kitchen, I met Charlie's gaze, his eyes tightening slightly as he saw me. I sighed and turned to make my cereal. He was still angry. And rightly so, his daughter had disappeared for days, leaving just a vague note. And then there was the motorcycle. If I were in his position, I'd be livid. But I wasn't in his position. I was the child not the parent, and thus I didn't feel too bad about being angry at him for grounding me. And the grounding wasn't really the problem, it was the lack of Edward I had trouble with. Of course, he didn't know that every moment he was asleep, we were in each other's arms, but that was beside the point.

"Hi dad." I was trying to be nice. Maybe he'd let up on the punishment.

"You're up early." His tone was short, and I already knew we weren't going to make any progress on the not being livid with each other thing today.

"So are you. I've got work, what's your excuse?" I knew why he was up early, despite having no work and no immediate plans for a fishing trip. He was making sure I didn't slip in or out of the house with Edward. In all fairness, his quarrels weren't necessarily wrong, since Edward had spent the vast majority of the night in my bedroom.

"Couldn't sleep." He mumbled; his voice gruff as he stood up from the table to wash his dishes. As soon as they were dry and placed back in the cupboards, he was out of the room, and I heard the quiet roar of whatever sports channel was playing this early in the morning.
I scoffed my breakfast and cleaned up quickly, and taped in the phone number into the house phone I'd been unsuccessfully calling every day for around a week now.

"Charlie?" A cheery voice called through the receiver.

"No, sorry Billy, me again." I said as brightly as I could, as I heard the annoyed sigh on the other end.

His tone notably different from the beginning of our conversation, I once again heard the same "he's not in" that I'd become accustomed to. It wasn't true. I knew that, Billy knew that, hell, even Charlie knew that. My best friend didn't want to speak to me, and it hurt.

"Well, tell him I called. And that I'm angry."
"Will do, Bella. Bye." The call ended with a click, and, despite the response been exactly as I expected, I felt my heart break a little more.

I slipped on my shoes and coat, called out to Charlie, and left the house.

Edward was already in the passenger seat of my truck. I was surprised he wasn't going to insist on driving, but I wouldn't question it, maybe he had forgotten that he hated me driving. Ha, a vampire forgetting. Fat chance.

I hopped in, and returned a smile to the crooked grin on his face.
"Hey." I said, dazed as ever by his beauty. He moved to kiss my cheek, but I wasn't having that, turning my head so our lips briefly met. Edward rolled his eyes, the corners of his mouth turning up even more.

"Charlie feeling anymore forgiving?" He asked, knowing the answer as well as I did. I snorted.

"I'm not getting my hopes up anytime soon. What sort of best friend dobs you in like that?" He frowned at me bringing up Jacob.

"A jealous one?" I rolled my eyes at that, before clipping in my seatbelt and beginning the short drive to Newton's store. After a long, comfortable moment, Edward spoke.

"Can I take you over to my house after you've finished work? Alice is begging me to take you over, and I think we should start worrying for my life if I don't listen to her." He smiled, and I laughed. I didn't doubt that one bit, Alice may be one of the closest friends I had ever had, but she couldn't half be demanding. And she always got what she wanted.

"Of course. I wouldn't want you to face the wrath of Alice." I said, pulling into my go-to parking space by Newton's.

"I don't know how I'm going to make it through the day without seeing you." The comment was offhand, but I knew he was being serious.

"Tell me about it." I said, reaching over to kiss him a quick goodbye.
"I love you, Edward Cullen."
"I love you, Bella Swan."